"You have the right to be questioned by an officer at least one rank senior"
Line of Duty is back this Sunday at 9pm. Now we're sucking diesel.
Hello,
Hope you had a good weekend. Here’s what is worth watching this week.
Line of Duty (BBC One / Sunday, 9pm) - One of the greatest British dramas is coming back this week and it is bloody great. If you haven't watched it before, don't worry. Essentially all you need to know is a) it's about police corruption, b) it's fronted by the greatest trio of detectives you’ve seen in years (Steve Arnott, Ted Hastings, Kate Fleming), c) there are police interviews kicked off with a MEEEEEEP from a cassette tape and d) it has a knack of sustaining a plot that manages to lure in new viewers whilst satisfying those who have been there since it debuted in 2012.
I can’t share many details from the first episode of this new series, but to be honest I wouldn't want to even if I could. The absolute thrill of this show is that every time you expect the plot to go one way, it goes another. Remember, this show is from the same people who made Bodyguard, and personally I think it's the better show.
FYI: I interviewed Martin Compston (who plays Steve Arnott) on this week’s 5 Live Must Watch podcast. We talked a lot about what makes the show special and what viewers are in for this time round (Who is ‘H’?’). You can hear it on BBC Sounds from Monday early evening.
Another police drama worth dipping into… Happy Valley (Netflix) - This 2016 BBC drama by Sally Wainwright, starring Sarah Lancashire, can only be described as perfect. Beautifully acted, beautifully written and very Yorkshire. If you didn't watch it then, I recommend you do now. There’s no news on a third series yet.
Worth a look… The Case Against Adnan Syed (Sky Atlantic and Now TV from April 1st) - We are coming up to five years since Serial investigated the murder of Hae Min Lee and whether Adnan Syed was wrongly incarcerated. This new four-part documentary picks up where the first series left off and shines a light on new theories made possible thanks to the podcast’s success. Personally speaking, I wasn't particularly taken by the first episode (it recounts a lot of what we know about the case already), but if you were interested in the podcast, you might want to give it a try. All the episodes will be available to binge at once.
Some recent good shows worth watching… there’s Queer Eye (Netflix), Pose (reviewed in last week’s newsletter - all the episodes are on iPlayer), Derry Girls (Channel 4, Tuesday 9.15pm), This Time with Alan Partridge (BBC One, Monday 9.30pm) and Fleabag (BBC Three). Paxman is on Celebrity Bake Off (Channel 4, Tuesday 8pm).
Also BBC Four broadcast an unintentionally hilarious documentary about memes last week…and in a wonderful twist, they couldn’t show us any of the memes because of various copyright issues, so they re-created them. I wrote about it for iNews.
Coming soon… Our Planet, the landmark Netflix nature series presented by Attenborough is out next month. Also there’s going to be a lot of talk today about Apple’s new TV offering (the announcement will be from 5pm).
Weird little moment… When James Acaster was on Celebrity Bake Off I tweeted a few screengrabs of him describing his baking experience ("Started making it. Had a breakdown. Bon appetite.") and it became a meme. Then at the People’s March on Saturday, I spotted that someone had adapted it into a protest sign. I love the internet.
Finally, a reader review from Nicola, a Worth Watching reader -“After watching The Assassination of Gianni Versace, I turned back to Season One of American Crime Story - The People vs OJ Simpson (Netflix). Stick with it and get to the trial, it becomes absolutely gripping. Possibly some of the best TV I've ever watched.”
If you have a favourite show you want others to know about, simply respond to this email and I’ll try to include it next week. And if you like this newsletter, please do tell others to subscribe on the Substack website and share the link on Twitter.
See you next week.
Scotty x